Noah – Movie Review

The captivating, heart-racing, Holy-Spirit-tingling trailers sucked me in.

Yes, I expected the Noah film to be based 90% on the biblical story, with some creative license taken from the directors, but about thirty minutes into the film, when the Watchers (sci-fi demon fallen angels-turned-rock-creatures) arrived on scene, I leaned over and whispered to my husband, “This movie is cray-cray.” (Read: crazy), and I don’t even use that slang term.

Noah, with its award-winning cast and Academy Award nominated director Darren Aronofsky, is causing quite a stir among church-goers and non-church-goers alike.  At the box office this opening weekend, the LA Times reports an estimated $44 million in ticket sales.

Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) and young Noah (Dakota Goyo) during the opening of the movie; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Without giving away spoilers, here’s what you can expect from Noah, saving any religious bias for the Biblical Worldview section below.

The tension in the film derives from the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain killed Abel, leaving him and Seth. When we meet Noah (Dakota Goyo / Russell Crowe), the descendants of Cain are on a mission to annihilate the sons of Seth.

Noah’s father is about to pass on his blessing, his arm wrapped in the glowing snakeskin supposedly shed by Satan in the garden of Eden. In an effort to save Noah, his father is killed by Tubal-cain (Finn Wittrock / Ray Winstone), the king-leader of Cain’s descendants.

Noah (Russell Crowe) and his wife, Naameh (Jennifer Connolly) live in a dangerous and dark time for humanity; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

We see Noah again as a grown man, married to Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), with three sons, Ham (Nolan Gross / Logan Lerman), Shem (Gavin Casalegno / Douglas Booth), and Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll). In a series of visions, Noah foresees watery destruction and new life, and realizes he must find his grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) to find answers.

The family sets off and stumbles upon a desecrated campsite full of dead bodies. One girl lives, and Noah and Naameh “adopt” Ila (Emma Watson) as their own. The sons of Cain return, and the family is forced to run through the black prairie, where they encounter the Watchers.

According to the film, the Watchers were formed on the second day of creation, but disobeyed the Creator, and were subsequently cast down and shackled by the earth. Since Methuselah protected them while the Creator was silent, the Watchers protect him, and cause trouble for Noah and his family.

Noah (Russell Crowe) and his son Ham (Logan Lerman) setting out to build the ark; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Once Noah is able to speak with his grandfather, and the rest of the vision is made clear to him, Noah plants the one remaining seed left from the garden of Eden, and the Creator provides what is necessary to build the ark that will save them, and the animals, from the wickedness of the land that the Creator is determined to destroy.

Along with the threats from Tubal-Cain and his men, Noah faces a series of other challenges. Ila and Shem are a couple, but Ham and young Japheth will not have wives on board the ark. While the rest of the family takes issue with the younger boys being alone after the destruction, Noah deals with an internal struggle on the future of mankind.

Noah believes the Creator wishes him to save the animals, since the wickedness of man is so evil, and it was humans who destroyed the perfect Eden once created. The flood will restore the earth, and the birds, creatures, and fish will be fruitful and multiply.

Emma Watson plays Ila, a young woman adopted by Noah and his family before the flood; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

However, Noah does not believe the Creator wishes for mankind to begin again, and sees the human race ending with his son Japheth, who will bury his family, and then die.

Alone.

While Noah’s internal dilemma is the primary focus of the latter half of the film, the flaw was in the resoluteness of his decision. If Noah had wrestled more, struggled more with the idea of mankind being able to survive, it would have lent more credibility to his plight.

See the trailer below:

Instead, Noah is not portrayed as the righteous man he’s claimed to be in the Bible, but the only man strong enough to carry out the Creator’s will of destroying all of mankind, including Noah and his family.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy Noah is to have the realistic expectation of what it is: a biblically-based plot from a secular worldview. The film thrives on fantasy and science-fiction, and that’s what it delivers.

One thing is for certain, like it or not, Noah has started conversations that are sure to last longer than forty days and forty nights.

The Creator brings animals of all kinds to the ark before the flood begins; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Biblical Worldview

From a biblical standpoint, Noah fails every Sunday school lesson or sermon ever taught. The key points that were correct in the film were the amazing shots of the animals being called to the ark. Everyone visualizes this amazing march when hearing the story of Noah, and to see it come to life was incredible. The heartbreaking screams of those left to the fierce waters was agonizing when one thinks of the reality of those calling for help.

The marketing campaign for Noah was brilliant—the fantasy or science-fiction element wasn’t shown in the trailers I watched. I thought Noah’s response to Tubal-cain’s threats: “I am not alone.” meant that Noah was saying that God was with him, while instead he referred to the great rock creatures behind him.

Russell Crowe as Noah; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

The names of Noah and his sons were correct, as well, and springs from underground did shoot heavenwards. Beyond that, the story fades into misinformation.

The word “God” was only said once, on my calculation, and even then I wished I could rewind to make sure I heard it correctly. Instead, “Creator” is used. The portrayal of God, or “Creator,” is not a loving one. Instead, the Creator is silent, uncaring, and desiring of punishment above all else.

A couple issues to be aware of: Noah’s son Ham succumbs to rebelliousness and a murderous heart, and the evil and wickedness of Tubal-cain’s camp are depicted in young girls being sold for a goat or meat of any kind.

(Spoiler Warning from this point on.)

Noah (Russell Crowe) and his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly) face much opposition from the people living around them; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Shem and Ila are not married, that is clear from Ila’s pleas to Noah to find him a wife who can bear him children, yet later that day, she passionately kisses Shem and he begins to undress before the camera cuts scene. She is later shown presumably naked under a blanket, sleeping next to him, and she is never referred to as Shem’s wife after being on the ark.

The Bible states that the people on the ark were Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives (see Genesis 7:7), yet in the film, the people on the ark were Noah, his wife, his sons, their adopted daughter-turned-Shem’s-lover, and a castaway.

There isn’t much need to go into the falseness of the “Watchers,” yet the fallen angel is taken back to heaven after asking the Creator for forgiveness.

The last moments before the flood prove dangerous and chaotic for Noah (Russell Crowe) and his family; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

For the believer, we have to make a choice. Either we boycott and write nasty reviews about Noah, or we can use Noah as a tool to start conversations and lead people to the truth. 1 Timothy 4:1 says that in the end times, some will follow deceptive spirits and teachings, and believers will need to choose how to deal with the popularity of a biblical story told in a non-factual manner.

The scariness of a Bible story being so torn apart is that there are people who will see Noah and will never learn what God’s Word says about the story, and won’t understand the balance of God’s love with God’s judgment.

Noah has given Christians an opportunity to share God’s love, so regardless of our opinions on the film, let us make the corrections needed in love with a teacher’s heart.

Director Darren Aronofsky speaks with Russell Crowe between scenes; Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Biblical Discussion (Spoiler Warning)

The positive aspects of Noah are the many teaching points and themes threaded throughout the movie. While there are many to choose from: Noah’s struggle is the devastation of mankind, and his belief that the “Creator” wanted him to watch his family die.

Do you think the perspective in the movie is accurate? Perhaps God wanted to kill mankind but Noah failed to end the human race?

God is portrayed as silent and cold in the film. How do you think the people (other than Noah and his family) felt towards God? Do you think they could have felt like God didn’t care about them?

Noah looks to the skies for answers when he cries out to God (the Creator), but an answer doesn’t come. How do you know when God is being silent or telling us to wait? Is it wrong to ask for a sign?

To read more about Paramount’s Noah, visit the Christian Film Database

Want to read more from Noah-related news? Check out Christian ‘Noah’ Releasing Same Day as the Hollywood Version

Find more about the author at Bethany Jett